Despite 70 percent of those surveyed being worried about saving enough money for retirement, only 17 percent said they have increased savings—and a whopping 80 percent said they were saving less or the same as before.
"These results provide an interesting illustration of the public's mindset in a difficult economy," said Julie Bandy, editor in chief at Bankrate.com. “Even though American families are worried about reaching other financial goals—most notably retirement—most appear to be unable to save more money."
One Midtown East co-op owner said in an interview that he thinks more about the tenuous financial situation than he used to.
“I think in uncertain times there is always the chance you will run into financial difficulties,” he said. “There's always some concern. It's not too bad at the moment, but that could change in a matter of minutes.”
He said he is more conservative in his spending habits than he used to be, but prefers to own a home rather than “throwing money away with rent.”
Songping Yu, an engineer in Maryland, has owned his home for four years and sees it as “the American Dream.” He said he is not currently worried about losing his home, “as long as I can keep my job.”
Yu said his security depends on his job—which he said is not as secure as it used to be.
“The construction/infrastructure development market has been slow but Obama has plans to fund developments in the near future,” he said. Yu's spending habits have not significantly changed.
Among employed Americans, only 35 percent of those surveyed have adequate savings to weather a job loss lasting more than six months.
